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Spring Festival
Spring Festival in General Spring Festival is one of traditional festivals in China. Since the history was being recorded, Spring Festival had being seemed as the most important Chinese traditional festival. According to the history, Spring Festival started from a Chinese traditonall fairytale, and during this specific day, people have several differnet ways to celebrate this festival and until now, after more and more living abroad, Sping Festival started become a traditional festvial being celebrated all over the world. Traditional Custom Almost all the Chinese will spend Spring Festival together. This section is going to introduce the customs that people also do in Spring Festival to celebrate this festival. The traditional customs are sweeping the dust; staying up, pay a New Year call, the Spring Festival couplets, antithetical couplet, firecrackers, and the Spring Festival Gala. Sweep the dust "The twenty-fourth day of the twelfth lunar month, dust and sweep the house." according to the'' Lv Shi Chun Qiu（Chinese：吕氏春秋 pinyin：lvshichunqiu） records a Chinese history book. China has the tradition of sweeping the dust since the era of Yao and Shun. The meaning of sweeping the dust is to take all the bad luck away. When spring festival comes, each family will clean the dust in the house, wash the dishes，change the bedding and curtains. Staying up Staying up is the most important tradition and appeared a long time ago. The first record is in Jin Zhou's ''Feng Shi Zhi(Chinese 风失志 Pinyin:fengshizhi): New Year's Eve, each phase and presented, known as "fed years"; especially to invite, known as "farewell years"; old and young gather and drink, celebration complete, known as the "divided old" Pay a New Year call In the early Song Dynasty around 1508-1568, there were cards to pay a New Year call between royal families called "calling cards" or "name stickers". It cuts the letter paper into plum two inches wide and three inches long and write your name and address. In the modern society people usually call each other or go visit others during Spring Festival to show their bless. Adults will bring gifts such as fruits or the homemade delicious food to show their best wishes and tlak about what happened in that year with the family they visited. The Spring Festival couplets Spring Festival couplets also called door couplets, spring stickers, poetic couplet, couplet, Taofu and so on. The style of the couplet is neatly, dual, concise, exquisite depict to sketch the background of that time, to express good wishes. It is China's unique form of literature. Each Spring Festival, no matter in the city or the countryside, every family will have couplets on the door. Antithetical couplet The couplet affixed to the door in order to increase the festive atmosphere. This custom started from Song Dynasty and became popular in the Ming Dynasty. When time went to the Qing Dynasty, the ideological and artistic level has been greatly improved. Liang Zhangju wrote in “kan lian cong hua” threshold association clump of couplets and characteristics of all kinds of work are discussed. There are many variety of new year, according to the use of premises, can be divided into the center door, box, tea, the spring strip, Dou Fang and so on “Door" affixed to the door at the upper end of the central part; "frame" affixed to the left and right two door; "tea" affixed to the door Mei bar; "spring" according to different content, pasted on the corresponding place; "catty" is also called "the door leaf", as Affirmative diamond, post more in furniture. Firecrackers Firecrackers are a holiday entertainment activity that can create a festival and lively atmosphere. Setting fireworks can bring people happiness and good luck. As a big development, firecrackers are used more widely with more and more varieties. Weddings celebrations, big holidays, building or shop opening ceremony should be set off firecrackers to celebrate and bring good luck. Hunan, Liuyang, Guangdong Foshan and Dong Yao, Jiangxi, Yichun and Pingxiang Zhejiang Wenzhou area is a famous town of fireworks and firecrackers, the production of color, high quality, not only sell well in the whole country, but also exported to the world. The Spring Festival Gala The Spring Festival Gala is Chinese CCTV show on the Lunar New Year's Eve night to celebrate New Year that held a variety of literary evening party. 1983 CCTV Spring Festival Gala was held by an accident. But the party has become a new tradition “the new culture”, every New Year’s Eve must see TV dinner. From the perspective of culture development, the CCTV Spring Festival Gala created a television variety show beginning, and has caused significant changes in the expression of Chinese television media content and the way of expression. Its success is not firmly established itself and derived series similar in CCTV, such as the arts, Zhengda arts, Qu Yuan Miscellaneous Drama. The Spring Festival Gala with singing and dancing shows and interesting drama become a very important event that every family will watch at the Spring Festival night to spend the happy festival together. Events & Festivals. Hong Kong Tourism Board. Accessed 2013-01-01. "New Years". www.chinese-lessons.com. Retrieved 2008-11-04. "Chinese New Year 2013 –Year of the Snake starts in style". www.chinatownlondon.org. 2013-02-04. Retrieved 2013-02-22. Traditional Spring Festival Cuisine In Chinese new year, some foods are very popular. Some of them may came from national culture, and some others may came from some legend story. Also, some foods are spread for thousand years, and some other may just popular from modern times. The common point is that they are all very popular in Chinese new year. Most of Chinese know them and eat them in Spring Festival. Laba congee The eighth day of the twelfth lunar month is celebrated as the Buddha enlightened day by Buddhist community. The temple monks and nuns often put eight kinds of food, which are glutinous rice, sesame, Yi Ren, Gui Yuan, dates, mushrooms, lotus seeds and etc, together to cook "rice pudding", and invite forks around the mountain to have the Communion together. They also send it as gifts to the young and old nearly to show Buddha worship. Subsequently the tradition become custom in which the folks cook rice pudding (called rice porridge) to eat in order to get rid of illness. In Song Dynasty, people cook rice porridge with "walnuts, pine nuts, milk mushroom, persimmon, chestnut, and etc" with rice (see "Tales of the Old"). In Ming and Qing Dynasties, eating rice porridge becomes popular. It is not necessary to gather all eight kinds of food. People can cook it with four or five kinds and can also cook it with more than ten kinds. In some places, it is cooked with rice, brown sugar and eighteen species of dried fruit, and beans. That is really grand. Cooked with lotus seeds, ginkgo, peanuts, dates, and pine nuts, and together with ginger, gui and other spices, the rice porridge can warm hand, foot, and nourish the body. Rice porridge made with cowpea, lilies, mushrooms, tofu, Arrowhead, and etc, is called “fine rice porridge”. Well ordinary people eat “raw rice porridge” mixed with vegetables, soybeans, beans, tofu, carrots, and water chestnuts. In some northern region of China, there are no or litter rice produced. Thus people there eat noodle porridge instead of rice porridge. It will be prepared the day before the eighth in the twelfth lunar month with small pieces made by a variety of fruits and vegetables, and will be eaten by the whole family in the next morning. In some mountain area where corn is produced, the corn will be used instead of rice to make such food, which will be called “corn porridge” then. It is an agricultural custom to eat porridge meal in such day. People can use whatever food found in home, such as soybeans, mung beans, cowpea, pea, egg, potato, carrot, and etc, as well as wheat flour, corn flour, sorghum flour, barley flour, and etc. Every kind of them can be put a little in the pot to make the porridge, which is sweet and delicious, and can be remember for a long time. People often say that eating whole looks full. The twelfth lunar month means a year is about to end. So people must eat all kinds of grains and vegetables in order to have a comprehensive nutrition. This is action to pray for human well-being and family thriving! People also say that eating whole collects full. Over the twelfth lunar month, a new year is about to come. Every kinds of grain in rice porridge will be eaten, and it means people treasure everything growing from the land. It is a good wish that all crops will grow well in the coming new year. And people will get rich. Dumplings When the Chinese New Year is mentioned, many Chinese will think about dumplings(饺子，jiaozi). Dumplings are always essential in New Year dinner table. Especially in northern China"dumplings in northern China,", dumpling making and dumplings eating are an important activity in celebrating New Year's Eve in most families. At New Year's Eve, the most important activity for the whole family is to make dumplings together. According to histories documents, tradition of eating dumplings in Spring Festival appears no later than the Ming Dynasty. The tradition is even popular and fixed in the Qing Dynasty(1644~1911)4. This ancient Chinese tradition has a relationship with timing method, in which the system of twelve Earthly Branches is used to record time every day. If one day is divided into twelve parts, the beginning part at midnight will be called “Zi” time, which is equivalent to the time from 11 pm to 1 am next day. So at the end of a year, New Year's Eve is only the replacement of a day, but also the replacement of an old year. Dumpling also called Jiaozi in China, which means alternation of “Zi” time. Chinese people care about boundaries very much, especially at New Year’s Eve, so at this time, Celebration will be made to pray for good luck in the coming year. However, eating dumplings is just such kind of pray with full of rich cultural meaning. Thus Chinese people slowly formed the tradition of eating dumplings in the Spring Festival, in New Year’s Eve, and in “Jiao Zi”. For Chinese people who treasure affection in family, in New Year's Eve, with the snow outside the window, and the warmth inside, and steaming vapor in pot, all the thoughts and wishes are all wrapped into the thin dumpling skin! Red flames and boiling water cook the feel and the joy, along with the New Year's firecrackers. Filled dumplings are also filled of a better expectations for the coming year. Spring roll Spring Rolls(春卷，chunjuan), which is called “Chunbing” in Chinese, should be eaten in the beginning of spring according to an ancient Chinese tradition. In the Jin Dynasty(1115~1234)1, there was already "plate of five Chinese eddos", "spring plate", in which Spring Rolls would be placed together with vegetables. In the Tang(618~907)2 and the Song Dynasties(960~1279), the tradition of eating Chunbings in spring was spread, and emperor gave Chunbings to ministers as gifts. At that time, the spring plate is extremely exquisite. "Green thread and red silk, golden chicken and jade swallow, sophisticated, 10 thousand wens (unit of money in ancient China) for each plate." Folk also treasured the Spring Rolls as gifts to each other. The tradition of eating Chunbings also affected brother nations. When following Genghis Khan to conquer the western regions, YelvChulv"Yelv,", Nov 4, 2014. ordered the chef to cook the spring plate, and made poetry. Nowadays, the shape and eating time of Chunbing are developed differently in different region. It can be cooked or steamed. It can be as big as a fan, or as small as an eredivisie. Popular Foods In Different Centuries LiTaoyong (talk) 03:25, October 30, 2014 (UTC) The legend of Spring Festival Ao nian shou sui（ Chinese: 熬年守岁 ) China Culture internetXiaozhang zhe, 20:19 6/6/2006124 YangJiang, 11:31 3/14/2007Introduction: Ao nian shou sui means stay late in the Eve of Spring Festival. About this custom, there is a legend. It is a best-known story. Actually, the story about the monster Nian is the nearest story approached to the god. Maybe it was unlikely to happen, but most Chinese people still believe it, celebrate it and this makes the Spring Festival famous all over the world. General story description: According to the legends, there was a monster called “nian.” It was really ferocity and everyone was afraid of it. It had tentacle on its head and was very ferocity. Nian lives in the deep sea. It lands every year and catches people and livestock to eat. So every New Year, people will go into the caves to avoid damage. One year, an old beggar came to a small village, which locates under the Tai Mountain. At that time, villagers were busying moving. One old lady gave the beggar some food and suggested that he could go to the cave with them. However, the old beggar refused and said, “If you let me live in your house, I will drive Nian away.” When the old lady found that she could not make him go with them, she went away. At midnight, Nian came into the village. However it found that the situation was different: the old lady’s house was full covered with red paper and the light shone inside the house. Then, with the sound of “bang” appeared, the old beggar who dressed in red clothes came out. Nian was scared and ran away. After that day, villagers came back and amazed to see the old beggar was alive. From the beggar, these villagers knew that Nian was scared of red. Then it became a habit that pasting the paper-cut for window decoration and setting up firecracker to drive away the monster. And when time passed by, it becomes a sample of Spring Festival. True history: Ancient China already had the habit to pass New Year, but it is not called the Spring Festival at that time. It is said that the time when New Year in lunar calendar officially named as the Spring Festival is after the Xinhai Revolution. Because at that time the government needed to switch to the Gregorian calendar, in order to distinguish between solar calendar and lunar calendar, it changed the name of first month of lunar calendar into "Spring Festival". Only at that situation, this legend became the most popular story from the north of China and influenced the habit a lot. The influences: The last day of the old year people didn't sleep at night, staying up late to welcome the arrival of the New Year. Stay up late at night for the coming New Year also called Shousui in New Year's Eve. People lit candles or oil lamps, vigil in the whole night. That is a symbol that all evil blast epidemic ran out, looking forward to the New Year auspicious symbol. This custom has been spread so far to now. Wan nian Introduction: In Chinese, Wan nian is a period that at the end of the Spring Festival. But here, this name is a youth in a legend. This story is not so famous, but the realistic is the highest. Most people believe this legend is the truth about how Spring Festival comes. And the story about Wan nian stands for the culture and history of China at that time. General story description: According to legend, in ancient times, there was a youth named Wan nian. He found out that the way to measure the season was mess and not clear. However, he could not find the way to solve that until one day, when he was cutting up a tree, he noticed about the movement of the shadow under the tree. Then he designed a shadow measurement meter days regarding instrument which determine the time of the daytime. He began to make a clepsydra which using five layers to calculate time. Over time, he found that every three hundred and sixty days and when the four seasons is a rebirth, the length of days changed again. The emperor at that time whose name is ZuYi, also felt upset for situation of unpredictable weather. Thus, as soon as he knew Wan nian and his discover, he felt happy and asked Wan nian to build an architecture to measure the time. After the building completed, the emp eror gave that building a name “Spring festival”. Then people celebrated the New Year to memorize Wan nian. True history: In the early years of the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC), celebrating the harvest and the custom of ancestor worship activities became a custom. In the beginning of the Western Han Dynasty (104 BC), emperor accepted Si Maqian, a Chinese litterateur, and other ministers’ suggest stipulated in a summer Meng Chun (day of the first lunar month) as the beginning of the month, the first day of the year, the first lunar month is the New Year's day. Later dynasties mostly used a summer. This legend was mostly believed in the south of China. Influence: To commemorate the Wan nian’s merits, the way measuring time was named "calendar”. Later, people hang up “the birthday girl figure” during Chinese New Year, is said to be in memory of the venerable Wan nian. The Process of Spending Spring Festival Spring Festival Celebrations The spring festival celebrations are the two weeks after the spring festival holiday. There have a lot of traditional things people should do. In ancient time every day in these two weeks, people have a lot of different tradition. During this two weeks people use the special name in lunar calendar. It’s like the first day of the lunar year through to the fifteenth day of the first month of lunar year. The fifteenth day is not just the last day of the spring festival; it’s also Chinese Lantern Festival. For modern traditions, people do not spend these whole two weeks for spring festival holiday. There have few important days people choose for some tradition things. New Year’s Eve, The first and last days of the festival are the most important days. The second and fifth days were also important because these two days people from north and south of China offer a sacrifice to the god of the wealth in ancient time. Today not every Chinese people believe this god but most of them still keep some traditional custom about “welcome god of the wealth” to wish they will be rich in New Year. Preliminary Eve Preliminary Eve is one week before the spring festival. After Preliminary Eve, people start to welcome the New Year. In ancient time Chinese believe the kitchen god Chinese called “Zao Wangye”, and so during this day Chinese people offered a sacrifice to the kitchen god to wish god protection their family for New Year. Today many young people didn’t believe the kitchen god but some cities still have some people offered a sacrifice, but not for every family like an perform show the traditional, it’s also give people a chance to celebrate together. At Preliminary Eve people write spring festival scrolls. These scrolls have sentences about bless and lucky. People put these New Year scrolls on their front door to wish for luck in next New Year. The week after the “Small New Year”, Chinese start cleanup. Because people think New Year every thing will be clean and new, the other reason is dust in Chinese speak sound like old, people clean the dust also mean people say goodbye to the old thing and in New Year everything will be new. New year’s Eve New year’s Eve is the last night of a year it was one of the main day in spring festival. This day is very important for every Chinese work in different city they all choose come back home before this day, in New year’s Eve family reunion is important than everything. The New Year’s Eve dinner also called family reunion dinner, every family site together to have dinner, in ancient time people eat the best things they can get during this dinner, now every dish has lucky mean. During this night, people stay up late or all night, this tradition is about people wish their parents or the old in their family being longevity. After the twelve in the new year’s eve, the Lunar New Year’s Day is coming people do the fire work at that time and elder will give lucky money to every young children to wish young children have good luck in next new year. For the modern tradition, every family after reunion dinner they will sit together watch the Spring Festival Gala, there have many traditional show on it but today not every Chinese like watch it but ten years ago or early it was every Chinese family’s first choice during the New year’s Eve. The first day of lunar year The first day also called the New Year’s Day, the beginning of the year and also is the beginning of the spring. In this day every family do the firework to celebrate the New Year’s coming and wish every thing will be better in the New Year. Young people will wish the old a Happy New Year. People also drink a kind of Chinese medicinal liquor called the TuSu, in ancient time old people drink with young people they always drink first to show they are honored, people drink TuSu every year, it’s mean every time you drink TuSu means new year coming people get elder, the ancient Chinese they wish the old being long life they let the old be the last one drink when they are drink TuSu together. The other important tradition is by first day people didn’t through any thing out of their house because the ancient Chinese believe when they clean their house it’s also clean the lucky for the New Year. For today people still do the firework and do not clean any thing on the first day, but for the TuSu not too much people drink it and also may be it is hard to get TuSu. The second day During this day every woman gets married they will back to see her parents and have lunch together. For the north of China, people offer a sacrifice to the god of the wealth. The god of the wealth is one of the most famous gods in China, people do the firework to welcome the god to wish next year they will have good luck on money and wish their business being better and get rich. The fifth day During this day people eat dumpling because ancient Chinese thought dumpling looks like the ancient shoe-shaped gold ingot. So Chinese think dumpling it’s kind of lucky food and eat it to wish for rich. In south of China, Chinese start to welcome the god of the wealth. In ancient time, people start working and open their store and market on this day. The fifteenth day (Lantern Festival) Lantern Festival is the last important day of the spring festival. The fifteenth day is the first full moon night in the New Year. During this day people made different kind of lantern, in ancient time most of children take the rabbit lantern and adult usually made flower lantern and put riddle on lantern to let other people answer. The riddle and the answer riddle always have lucky meaning. During lantern festival, people ate the sweet soup rice dumpling in Chinese called “Yuan Xiao” mean reunion. Spring Festival oversea Spring Festival refers to the Chinese traditional culture in the lunar New Year. In the history of China, Spring Festival was the most famous festival and has an important historical position and is one of the oldest festivals in Chinese history. In ancient times specifically defines spring as beginning on Spring Festival. It also regarded as the beginning of the year, and the start the first lunar month. The Spring Festival always ends in the half of the first lunar New Year. The Spring Festival is the happy tradition of the Chinese nation, contain the wisdom and the crystallization of the Chinese national culture, embodies the Chinese people's pursuit of life and emotional sustenance. Passing on the Chinese social ethics. So, people must vigorously to carry forward the good traditional culture of the Spring Festival by condensation, renewing, blessing, reunion theme of peace and prosperity Chinese lunar year in the United States, American friends as long as with familiar Chinese-American or meet at overseas Chinese living in the United States for many years, the first sentence is "a happy Spring Festival!" At the same time, giving New Year card and congratulations to the Spring Festival. People dance street dance, dragon dance, lion dance, at night, firework, from the flowery glorious, streets appear from time to time to celebrate the Spring Festival, is really busy. On New Year's evening the whole family to eat meal together, together after dinner livelily, wait for the arrival of the day. On the first day is a statutory public holidays, people wear new clothes, relatives live points around the relatives and friends, and spend the holiday together, to celebrate the New Year, mean the everything in the next year is good. For the students which study outside, students would buy a lot of vegetables and meat, reunited with his good friend together, talk about the past year and look forward to the future together. First of all must have the Chinese New Year atmosphere, decorating their environment around, will let you indulge in it. But the United States is a western culture as the main body of the world, so, build the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year, only by overseas Chinese to create, use form infection of Chinese and western people. For many years, the local Chinese New Year party, such as the annual CCTV Spring Festival gala, will do. In addition to together, there is a tacit purposes, many Chinese have no chance to show in the mainstream American society, in Chinese circles, can count in the stage of their talent. Talent in Chinese, of course, sometimes in order to show, from absorbs the actor, also a competition. In order to let everyone have an opportunity to perform, and let the organizers surge that a small Chinese community, do not do a spectacle, unexpectedly come up with a few drama out of competition at the same time. See the spectacle may not be a bad thing, however, had a ticket money, may spend two or three times, the Chinese around on these, you are not famous, who will? In foreign countries, and staff performance, almost all of them are compulsory offer, however, organized a program of basic fee, rates, etc., such as transportation, theater on admission is not enough money. How to do? It is a matter of sponsors. In a small community, and the size of the Chinese businessmen, originally only need to donate a sponsored advertising spending, all of a sudden become a few times. For the audience, originally can concentrate on to enjoy a high-quality goods, has to be pulled out a few to repeat. Wait until the next day, however, have a look at the local Chinese news tracking, content report must not only flowers, and it about to break out. So overseas Chinese celebrate New Year's goal is not reached? Especially the compatriots from mainland China, the most can not lack a spectacle, is in the overseas Chinese television, rob to see the previous domestic have live broadcast of CCTV Spring Festival gala. In recent years, don't know is leaving ZuGuoYuan, factors of cultural distance was pulled away, or the domestic program itself, after watching the show, the overseas Chinese more and more disappointed. Still, show to see, like wish years wine, missed no flavor. There used to be a Chinese only in China around the city parade floats team, and now, as the Chinese in a small town in the growing, we no longer need to go to China town, you can attend or watch the parade at home. The Chinese community, carrying elegantly own logo, bring together, less serious, very interesting. In China is an ornament in the United States, the new moon on the morning, the U.S. media have mentioned, there are introduced. However, the United States is not because it is the Spring Festival, the Chinese have a holiday for you. In the west, the biggest holiday is Christmas, in China, the status of the position of the Spring Festival and the western Christmas day is the same. Because the New Year is the beginning of a New Year, representing the unpleasant trouble in the past year after the Spring Festival will be forgotten, start a new life a year. Family and friends with the other's wishes and hope, eat family reunion dinner together brought gifts. The Chinese New Year abroad, I'll buy local Chinatown Chinese New Year food, when the Chinatown in full of the joys of New Year atmosphere, everyone took the gifts and food. GMail References Category:Legends "Chinese New Year Traditions." Chinese New Year Traditions. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. "Zao Wangye." N.p., n.d. Web. "Chinese New Year Festival Day 5: The God of the Wealth Day." Chinese New Year Festival Day 5. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. "Chinese Spring Festival, 2015 Lunar New Year Traditions and Activities." Chinese Spring Festival, 2015 Lunar New Year Traditions and Activities. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014.